Speakers

The regulation No 31 (EEC), 11 (EAEC), lays down the staff regulations of officials and the conditions of employment of other servants of the European Economic Community and the European Atomic Energy Community. In title II of this regulation the rights and obligations of officials are set out. following these rules "an official shall carry out his duties and conduct himself solely with the interests of the Communities in mind; he shall neither seek nor take instructions from any government, authority, organization or person outside his institution. He shall carry out the duties assigned to him objectively, impartially and in keeping with his duty of loyalty to the Communities. An official shall not without the permission of the appointing authority accept from any government or from any other source outside the institution to which hen belongs any honour, decoration, favour, gift or payment of any kind whatever, except for services rendered either before his appointment or during special leave for military or other national service and in respect of such service".
So it is made very clear that officials are not and may to no extend be seconded by national governments and must not receive any order or directives from others than from their institution. Any assignment to an institution has a selection procedure as condition. The assignment is a permanent one and therefore such an assignment gives a reasonable state of independence to the official assigned. This very particular independence is one of the major assets and advantages for an official as such but also for the institution and the community interest.

Permanent Representations in Brussels are not the main focus of lobbying activities they are directed more to the Commission at the start of the legislative process and to members of the European Parliament, as well as to national governments in their respective capitals.
Being aware of the positions of interest groups, their role and strength in member states and at the European level is essential, however, to fully understand national positions, the likely room for maneuver and the shape of possible compromises.
Networking at the level of the Council has to take this into account to ensure support for national positions and to be effective in influencing negotiations on often complex dossiers with different interests involved.

A big part of all rules and regulations in Europe originate from decisions made at European level. Thus, participating, networking, lobbying at European level is important.
The Commission is open to input from all stakeholders and the general public. This process of open and transparent policymaking is regarded as a fundamental element in the development of sound and workable policies.
The continuous dialogue has proven valuable to both the Commission and to the interested outside parties, because in the end, it helps in building up at an early stage - mutual understanding of the issues at stake for all parties involved. In making we get all relevant information, it helps the Commission to get the policy choices right. Likewise, it helps the different stakeholders to better understand the European dimension of some issues whilst at the same time giving them every opportunity to feed their legitimate interests into the policymaking process.